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| Poll: Support for Iraq war slipping |
| 2003-06-30 |
| CNN — As a new poll shows Americans are taking a dimmer view of U.S.-led coalition efforts in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that the fighting there would continue "for some time." Only 56 percent of Americans view the current fighting as going well in Iraq, according to a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll. That is much lower than the 70 percent in late May and the 86 percent in early May who thought the fighting was going well. The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. Forty-nine percent of the 1,003 adult American polled last week are not confident that the United States can stop such attacks on U.S. forces, but three-quarters of respondents believe the number of combat deaths since April were to be expected given the dangers in Iraq. Although the percentage of those who believe going to war in Iraq was worthwhile has fallen to 56 percent from 73 percent in April, more than two-thirds believe having U.S. troops in Iraq now is worthwhile. Less than half of Americans said they were confident that U.S. forces would capture or kill Saddam, down from 70 percent in March. About 45 percent said they lacked confidence that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction would be found, up from 15 percent in March. The poll also found little difference in the number of those who believe the Bush administration deliberately misled the public about Iraqi weapons — 37 percent now, up from 31 percent earlier in June. More than half said it would matter a great deal if they were to become convinced that they were mislead. Sent the following letter the CNN: Dear CNN: The headline for this story is "Poll: Support for Iraq war slipping." But the actual story provides ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE for the claim. What it provides is evidence for the claim that the number of people who "view the current fighting as going well in Iraq" is declining. That is an entirely different matter. Someone can think the fighting is going poorly, and still support the fighting. Not everyone is a fair weather fan. In fact the story goes on to say that "Although the percentage of those who believe going to war in Iraq was worthwhile has fallen to 56 percent from 73 percent in April, more than two-thirds believe having U.S. troops in Iraq now is worthwhile." The story does not indicate that the two-thirds (who favor the presence of troops) is in any way lower than it has been in the past. (Even if it is true that the number is lower, the story provides no evidence for it, and yet that claim is the essence of the headline!) |
| Posted by:Ben |